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Announcement on Launch and Playtest
Seelinnikoi
Member RarePosts: 1,360
As can be read from here: http://www.darkfallonline.com/blog/?p=3448
Dear Friends,
We have come to a decision, not without much internal debate, that instead of commercial release this Wednesday as planned we are going to launch the game for playtesting first. We also believe that we owe the community a thorough explanation for this last minute decisions, so the reasons behind it are the following:
- While we have done a lot of internal testing for the game, the platform has been thoroughly field tested, and the game has also been tested by external partners, we have always felt that the game should be tested by the players and last checks corroborate this. Time however was not on our side.
- Secondarily, some of the reasons which caused us to slip from our original launch date last month are not yet fully resolved to our satisfaction and a bit more time is needed. For the record, what’s left shouldn’t take more than a few days longer.
- Being Greenlit on Steam so quickly was beyond our expectations, this success was 100% community driven and it showed us how important to the community this is. After evaluating the procedure needed for proper Steam integration, we realized that if we launch on schedule it would be impossible for us to launch with Steam.
Despite considering this a setback, we actually also consider it a perfect opportunity to get the community involved directly in the fine tuning of the game features before launching on Steam. We have been working with the dream of making Darkfall Unholy Wars the best competitive experience ever and lack of community feedback would have been a missed opportunity. We also believe that a Steam launch can help the game get the critical mass it needs to be as fun as it can possibly be, and we feel it’s important to have the game tested more thoroughly before this happens.
So now what?
- We’re launching a fully playable beta version of the game as soon as we get the build ready. We have a firm ETA for Monday,December 17th. By beta version we mean the game will be running in debug mode so that we can quickly get valuable feedback from playtesting and we can identify and address issues as quickly as possible.
- Pre-orders get beta access; we’re making pre-orders available on Friday so you can download the game over the weekend.
- Some details regarding the pre-order: returning Darkfall players will get the game at the price of the subscription during pre-order. New players will get the game at a discount. Pre-orders get 30 days of game-time when the game launches, beta access for as long as that is live, plus you can reserve your character’s name. We will also explore offering a head start. Pre-order slots may be limited and will be throttled if needed.
- We can focus on playing and working with you to identify any bugs and imbalances and will continue working closely with our players to improve the game so that by the time the game launches it will be as perfect as possible. There will be developer – player interaction on issues that come up, and we want to keep developing a user-centric culture throughout the lifecycle of Darkfall Unholy Wars.
- We will also be working round the clock on getting the game ready for a Steam launch with all the Steam features we want integrated.
- The Darkfall Unholy Wars launch should happen as soon as we’re cleared to do a Steam launch, we assume that the game will be properly tested by then as well. Our estimate is January after the holidays. We will announce a specific launch date as soon as possible. We need to estimate the exact time it takes to integrate all the Steam features, and to assess what feedback we get from our playtesters.
We feel there are compelling arguments for us to take a little extra time and to involve the community. The very amusing community insider joke “we’ll do it live” is not how we prefer to do things, but in the past we had been forced to by our circumstances or by external factors.
We regret the last minute announcement, we had to agree on this with several parties and get approval from all our departments so we’ve been agonizing over this since last week. We do appreciate your understanding on this, it was not an easy or a pleasant decision for us to make, especially at the last minute, and we feel badly that we’re not true to our word even though everyone at Aventurine has been working extremely hard for tomorrow’s planned release date. However, we also feel that this is the best possible option for the game, for the players, and we promise to make the best of it involving you as much as possible in making Darkfall Unholy Wars reach the potential it deserves.
More information on the playtesting process and on the pre-orders, will become available in separate announcements starting tomorrow. We’ll also be happy to address your concerns and provide answers to your questions.
Thank you for reading.
New players can get a welcome package and old/returning players can also get a welcome back package and 7 days free subscription time! Just click here to use my referral invitation
Comments
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
OMG, they are deleting threads as fast as people make them right now in the game forums.
At least 30 threads was deleted within 15 minutes after the announcement.
Most were filled with shock, anger and disbelief at the company for delaying literally 1 minute before the release date.
Instead a beta, if you prepay.
Also in the week up to the 'release', no info, not a word from the company. No advertizing anywhere on the web. No new website about the new game, nothing. Just silence until 1 minute before launch day.
Gotta be stupid, if you think they came up with the idea of a beta for a MMO, 1 minute before the release day. They must really hate their potential players. They don't give a shit.
So is my understanding correct based on this blog that...
Returning Darkfall 1 players do NOT get the game for free?
Well we all saw the mess when DF came out, and this is why I will never buy one of their products because of such things. I find it funny people can bad mouth SOE, Blizzard ect but yet these guys are screwing with their customers right off the bat, how can any of you trust them? They screwed up badly in the past and this time it is no different.
I feel sorry for the people who really want to play the game , I really do, I am just pissed off at the studio for doing such a stupid move and at last second notice? Seriously?!
They're not using Steam as an excuse, geniuses, they're being smart about who it'll reach. Clearly, it'll reach the majority of Steam users, who are spoon fed teenagers, and they realize their game should be much more refined for that audience. It has to do with making a good first impression, not using it as the sole reason it got delayed.
Contrary to what you people think, gamers are have extremely short memories. If you want to play this game, you'll play it, even with this delay. All the people who are whining in this thread, or the official forums, will buy the game and play their product. Get over it. You're only mad at the idea that you're not PLAYING the game tomorrow. Am I upset I don't get to try out UW tomorrow? Sure, but if it means getting a beta test, and to refine the product for launch for a better, solid population and growth of the game... I can deal with it... you all should to.
Jeez.
No not really. You pay the "free" monthly fee that normally would have been included when you buy the box. Anyhow they always said you needed to pay for that.
That's right folks. You heard it here. Spoon fed teenagers demand quality polished products. We adults on the other hand should be ok with unfinished, unrefined, and buggy releases. Stupid teenagers!
On a serious note, this Steam fiasco proves that if it hadn't been Greenlight, they would have put out an incomplete and buggy product and expected you to pay for it. Why anyone would defend this, I will never know.
Whatever, its not like we would not beta-test the game if it had fully launched tomorrow
Will be pre-ordering anyway
"It has potential"
-Second most used phrase on existence
"It sucks"
-Most used phrase on existence
Hey guys, adults who create their own assumptions based on taking things out of context are awesome!
Still can't counter a single point I have made showing AVs dishonesty? Good on ya.
Locking this thread to consolidate discussion to a single thread. You can find it here: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/371556/GAME-DELAYED-real.html
Please take all further discussion there.